Multihulls in a marina question

[jameskelsey]

I'm new here but am VERY seriously buying a trimaran; I have my eyes on two of them actually. I have experience with monohulls, but a tri would be new for me.

The boats I'm thinking about, one is a 55' x 26' and the other is a 39' x 23'

My primary question is what percentage of marinas would I just be out of luck on with these boats? I'm planning on traveling around the pacific primarily (USA, South America, Hawaii, Asia).

Is paying for double-moorage just the cost of owning a Trimaran?

Thanks!

James

[mikereed100]

Having sailed our cat around SE Asia, Phillipines, Taiwan, Japan, Alaska, PNW and California, we have never been denied a slip or charged more for being a multihull. I'm sure there are places where this is not the case, but we have not found them yet.

[FSMike]

On my way to Key Largo to haul out, currently at North Palm Beach Marina with 40' loa, 26' boa. Never been charged double for multihull in USA or Bahamas. Occasionally have difficulty finding an available space, such as tomorrow probably because so many people are holing up due to weather down here. Currently raining like hell, blowing 15 knots gusting 25. At least it warmed up.
Rather be at anchor anyway.
Catamarans have more room and are more maneuverable under power.
Trimarans are more affordable, at least the older ones.
I've heard that extra charges for multihulls are more common in the Med, no first hand knowledge though.

[Rapanui]

Yes. In Europe its almost universal to charge more for a multihull. In Croatia seems to be 1.7 x mono even on buoys which is crazy, in UK and Northern France typically 1.5X which seems fairer given the greatly increased beam of modern monos. A few enlightened places charge all boats on a formula of length x breadth.

[Jim Cate]

It is normal practice to charge multis more than monos of the same length here in Australia, all up and down the east coast. The amount of the surcharge varies between marinas.

Cheers,

Jim

[JPA Cate]

In Sydney, Australia, an acquaintance was told $1,200.00 for one week; he decided not to do that.

[Factor]

Yeah sorry Anne, I call BS on your acquaintance. We have a marina in spitting distance of the Harbour Bridge, walking distance to light rail etc etc, and we dont charge anything like that, unless of course the acquaintance owned an ORMA 70 tri

End ties and inside ties should be the same cost, you can only park one boat no matter how narrow or wide. Really of course monos should be slugged with a Dredging fee in our harbour in Brisbane, I don't care if the harbour silts up to a metre deep, apparently monos do, so all the clubs have to spend money on dredging and maintaining a spoil dumping area. Not fair that I pay for their keels really. Should charge on a cubic capacity.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Factor

Yeah sorry Anne, I call BS on your acquaintance. We have a marina in spitting distance of the Harbour Bridge, walking distance to light rail etc etc, and we dont charge anything like that, unless of course the acquaintance owned an ORMA 70 tri

End ties and inside ties should be the same cost, you can only park one boat no matter how narrow or wide. Really of course monos should be slugged with a Dredging fee in our harbour in Brisbane, I don't care if the harbour silts up to a metre deep, apparently monos do, so all the clubs have to spend money on dredging and maintaining a spoil dumping area. Not fair that I pay for their keels really. Should charge on a cubic capacity.

Answering for Ann:

The boat in question was X-it, John Hitch's 55 foot radical cat. He needed a short term stay on short notice in order to deal with a family issue, and that was the only adequately sized berth available at the time (about 5 years ago IIRC).

So call BS if you wish... I think that it is sorta rude, myself.

Jim

[Jimbo485]

I see X-it is for sale now.

I met John while he was building it in a shed behind his house about 10 or 12 years ago. Very interesting bloke to chat with and it is an amazing design for a couple, but would probably not appeal to the masses.

[Sand crab]

I never heard of X-it so I searched the web. Wow!
Boats for Sale, Talisman

[nimblemotors]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

I never heard of X-it so I searched the web. Wow!
Boats for Sale, Talisman

I have mentioned this boat often on CF, as I had the same idea, and then I found someone built one like it already.
It seems Hitch does not get the credit he deserves compared to other designers.

[Jimbo485]

55' hulls with a max hull beam WL of only 2' (IIRC) gives an L:B of over 25;1!

[Sand crab]

There is a thread about the Hitchhiker boats and X-it on that forum which shall not be named. The link shall not be named either.